politics NEWS

Amid reports that the government will be reaching out to it on the GST Bill, Congress said it is not opposing the key reform measure and has only come forward with three concrete suggestions in the interest of the common man.

'Corruption' by former state revenue minister Eknath Khadse will be on the 'top priority' of Congress to corner BJP-led government in upcoming session of state Legislature with the party forming a 15-member panel of legislators to chalk out the strategy to be adopted on the floor of both Houses.

Scores of members of Congress' minority department on July 5 staged a demonstration at Mehrauli, demanding resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and local MLA Naresh Yadav after the latter was booked in a case of desecration of a holy book in Punjab

Keen to get the landmark GST Bill cleared during the ensuing Parliament session, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to meet top Congress leaders to win over support of the principal opposition party

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on July 5 lambasted the Akali-BJP government in Punjab for its "anti-industry" policies and assured representatives that his party shall bring the "dwindling industry on track" in the state if voted to power

The Shiv Sena-BJP rift is set to intensify with the ally failing to get any berth in the
expansion of the Union Council of Ministers on July 5, prompting it to issue a veiled threat to the senior partner that it will keep it in mind during the Mumbai city corporation and other local body polls across Maharashtra

Calling this an accommodative stance, Anil Padmanabhan, Deputy Managing Editor at Mint, says the move is going to be a 'serious three way fight', where normally BJP wins as the opposition votes get divided.

"Political opposition to GST bill is suicide. I am an optimist. I believe more in lifelines", PM Modi said regarding the Goods and Services Tax Bill that has been stuck in Parliament owing to the Congress Party's disapproval of the final draft presented by the government.

Amid reports about S S Ahluwalia, who headed the JPC on the land acquisition issue, being inducted into the Council of Ministers, Ramesh said one could guess what would be the fate of the amendments the government wants to bring in the bill.

According to sources, the expansion-cum-reshuffle being carried out by Modi is also expected to see elevation of at least one minister to Cabinet rank. Some of the 19 new ministers are expected to get Independent charge, the sources said.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on July 4 said credit cannot be taken away from late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao for the economic reforms driven by him in the 90s but Ayodhya "blotted his record"

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on July 4 said BJP central leadership has not held in any discussion with him on the Union Cabinet expansion and that his party will not stand on anybody's doors seeking favours

BJP called Congress a "sinking ship without a captain" as it hit back at Congress
for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a 'poster boy for broken promises', saying the opposition party was speaking out of frustration as Modi's work was being "hailed" everywhere

On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reviewed the performance of various ministries in spending budgetary allocations and implementing schemes in the past two years and asked his colleagues to ensure schemes be tailored to benefit masses.

There was no official word on what transpired in the meeting, and party sources played down its significance, saying such an exercise, which is also attended often by Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj, happens almost every month.

Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on June 28 claimed his party will repeat in Goa its electoral performance of Delhi and win at least 35 out of 40
seats in the state in upcoming Assembly election

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that India's efforts for engagement with
Pakistan is on with peace as supreme objective but the forces have "full freedom to answer back" in whatever manner they have to.